Wednesday, February 22, 2017

We
live in a world in which 800 million are malnourished, in which 600
million have no home, in which 1 billion have no access to clean
water and in which over 1 billion have no work. Our world is racked
by war and civil strife, crime is on the increase everywhere and
racism and nationalism is again rearing its ugly head. Were this not
enough we now face the threat of environmental catastrophe.

These
are not natural problems, they are social problems and all rooted in
the way our world is organised for production – production for
profit not social need. The terrible irony is that these are problems
we are already capable of solving.

While
we destroy mountains of food, children starve. We employ 500,000
scientists world-wide on weapons programmes, while the world cries
out for medical and technological breakthrough that. can directly
benefit humanity.

Countless families sleep rough on the streets or
the world's cities, yet there is no shortage of vacant building,
stockpiled bricks and mortar and unemployed builders. We pollute the
world, yet for 6 per cent of the money we spend on weapons each year
we could provide 1 billion people in underdeveloped countries with
solar power. The list is as endless as it is insane. Everywhere we
look we are reminded of the maxim of capitalism: "can't pay,
can't have". At every turn we find evidence that capitalism
impoverishes our lives and retards real human development.

The
alternative

The
World Socialist Movement, which dates back to 1904, believes the only
way forward lies in the establishment of a world of free access. A
world social system based upon the common ownership and democratic
control of productive wealth by and in the interest of all people.
Production for social need, not profit. A world without borders or
frontiers, social classes or leaders, states or governments, money,
wages, buying and selling. A world in which we all give freely of our
abilities and take according to our needs, with all work being based
on voluntary cooperation. A world devoid of force or coercion and in
which we each have a real democratic voice.

We
reject that such a system can be brought about by force. World
socialism will only come when a majority of the people of the world
want socialism and are prepared to organise for it peacefully and
democratically to get it. We further reject the idea that socialism
has already been tried and has failed. We have always maintained that
what was named 'socialism' was only ever state capitalism.

We
are a leaderless organisation consisting of a membership of equals.
We have companion parties and members throughout the world, all
sharing the same vision of a moneyless world. We make no promises and
ask not to lead you. There is nothing we can do for the workers of
the world that they are not capable of doing for themselves – after
all, they already run the world from top to bottom. If we want change
then we have to bring it about ourselves.